Rational

My mother used to receive regular beatings from my father, a frustrated brute of a man who couldn’t look after, nor love, his family. And yet, when I had suggested that she should seek a divorce, my mother was deeply offended, angry and hurt. She had said, as a Hindu wife, her place was next to her husband.

Sometimes, bitter personal experiences are not enough to make us wise. Then again, wisdom may not be a rational outcome of our experience. Or perhaps, I’m trying to be rational about things which are not.

Something wonderful happened today

Today, I received a comment on one of my old ‘runawaysun’ blogs dating back to November 2005. At that time, I had been blogging about problems immigrants faced in a new country, and I had referred to Christine Yeh of Columbia University and four coping strategies that she had suggested immigrants can use to adjust to a new culture. The blog post was titled ‘Re-adjustment’.

The comment on that blog post today was from Christine Yeh, modestly explaining that the four types of strategies for acculturation belonged to John Berry, and not her. That, although she does discuss coping in her work on immigrants, she talks more about cultural approaches to coping that “often involve spirituality, using social support networks, family, peers, elders, etc, and methods of indigenous healing.”

Thank you, Christine, for your comments. It was a wonderful surprise. I’m delighted to know that you are continuing your work with ethnically and racially diverse people, and promoting a multicultural world for all of us to live in harmony.

My post on ‘Re-adjustment’ and Christine Yeh’s comment can be found here.

Words, intention

“There are the words themselves, and then, behind or around or beneath the words, there is the intention.”

– J M Coetzee, ‘Slow Man’

Novel, film

A novel is different from a film. In a novel, we have to draw on our own experiences to fill in the images.

First day first show

I admit it was foolish, what with my age and the fact that I hadn’t done something like this for years. But I felt like doing it. So, I did it. I caught a first day first show, leaving aside my work. It was just like I used to do during college, cutting classes, some donkey’s years ago.

It had been a while since I’d seen a film on the big screen, my work keeping me busy and my mind unsettled with all the travelling I had to do between Calicut, Cochin, Mangalore and Bangalore. ‘Blood Diamond’ was probably the last one, sometime in January. So, when I saw the ‘Spider-Man 3’ poster stuck on the walls of Calicut, a secret desire arose to see this film and I kept an eye on its launch. It was on 4 March.

As the days approached, I became more resolute. I just had to see the film. I wanted to be one of the first guys to see the film in Calicut. I checked in which cinema halls it was likely to run and was relieved to find one, ‘Crown’, the only one to run ‘Spider-Man 3’ in Calicut, near my client’s office. I decided on the first day first show. Now, the question was, how do I suddenly break off from work and rush off to see a film without antagonising my client?

Came 3 March, and I announced my intentions to my team in my client’s office. They looked at each other, uncomprehending, thinking it was a joke. They couldn’t imagine a 47-year-old man craving for a film so much so as to want to catch the first day first show, leaving aside his work. On top of that, they had known me to be diligent, putting in long hours everyday, concentrating on my work.

Questions erupted all over: Why, sir? What happened, sir? Why so suddenly, sir? Why this film, sir? Etc. To which I replied that I just felt like doing it.

They all started talking in Malayalam amongst themselves and I couldn’t grasp any of it. Of course, there were bits and pieces like ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Crown’ and ‘12 noon show’, but most of their conversations were beyond me. However, later that afternoon, to my surprise, they presented me with a ticket, upstairs in the Balcony, first day first show of ‘Spider-Man 3’ in ‘Crown’. They wouldn’t take the money. Said it was a treat.

That evening, I informed my client, the managing director, about not being available at work the next day for 3 hours or so around lunch. But, I needn’t have worried about it. He already knew and hoped that I enjoyed the film.

Next morning at work, everyone checked if I had the ticket ready with me, giving me directions to the cinema hall, telling me how long it would take to travel there. At 11:30, they all stopped work to remind me to shut down my laptop and be on my way. I shouldn’t miss the first 15 minutes, they encouraged. So, off I went, to see ‘Spider-Man 3’, first day first show.

Blogging

“Anybody who has good writing skills, access to information and who can come up with an opinion about the world, investigate it, have an interesting idea … can just post it on their blog. This is what the best bloggers are doing. They don’t need the infrastructure of a news organisation to do their job; it’s all about that one solitary individual who has something interesting to say.”

That’s Jimmy Wales (Mr Wikipedia) speaking, in an interview with Matthew Buckland last month which I read on the Net just yesterday.

What Jimmy Wales says makes me feel good because that’s what I believed in when I began blogging two years ago. I believe in it even now. Jimmy Wales’ words endorse what I do as a blogger in ‘sunstruck’, my other blog, which is written in an editorial style expressing my view of the world.

The question is, then, what am I doing with this blog, ‘Unsettled Views’, which is more of a confessional than an editorial? Written like a diarist, recording random thoughts which seem to have some meaning or significance in my life, this blog is not written along the lines “what the best bloggers are doing.”

So….

Values Test

The Australian government has decided to introduce a citizenship test for new migrants in Australia. It’s called a ‘Values Test’.

The test will require applicants to have a basic understanding of English and pass a computerised test of their knowledge of the Australian way of life and history. They will also have to sign a commitment to Australia’s values and way of life.

By doing this, the Australian government will achieve something… I don’t quite know what.